20th May 2020 08:22
(Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC on Wednesday said its Lynparza treatment has been approved in the US to treat patients with gene-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
The FTSE 100-listed pharmaceutical company - which is developing the drug with Merck & Co Inc - said the approval from the US Food & Drug Administration was based on results from the Phase III PROfound trial, showing that Lynparza - or olaparib - reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 51% in men with homologous recombination repair gene mutations.
Prostate cancer is the second-most common cancer in men and despite an increase in the number of available therapies, five-year survival remains low, AstraZeneca said. It further explained that homologous recombination repair mutations occur in around 20% to 30% of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
"Prostate cancer has lagged behind other solid tumours in the era of precision medicine. I am thrilled by the approval of Lynparza which now brings a molecularly targeted treatment to men with HRR gene-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in the US," said Maha Hussain, a principal investigator of the PROfound trial.
Shares in AstraZeneca were trading up 1.6% at 8,814.00 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.
By Ife Taiwo; [email protected]
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